Sweden based Junip released their video for "Line Of Fire" earlier this week. The song is the first single from their upcoming Junip album which is scheduled for release on April 23 via Mute. The video clip was directed by Swedish filmmaker Mikel Cee Karlsson. Check it out below.
The first installment in a two-part series leading up to the release of Junip’s sophomore self-titled release on April 23rd “Line of Fire” is best explained by Karlsson himself, "The video(s) tell the story of a tormented old man, stuck in a relationship that perhaps was not his choice, or preference to begin with. We see fragments from childhood, the first awkward kiss, the father watching over him. Making sure he follows the right path. The old man, like all of us, a person programmed by the convictions and beliefs of others. In the case of the old man, the unconscious suddenly manifest itself when a young, jeans wearing character appears in their home, forcing him to question who he really is."
“Line of Fire” is the first single off Junip’s self-titled sophomore album. Featuring vocals by José González with Elias Araya on drums and Tobias Winterkorn on keys, “Line of Fire” showcases a bolder, more mature Junip.Returning to their rehearsal space in Gothenberg, Sweden (where they recorded their 2010 debut release, Fields) the trio once again engaged the assistance of producer Don Alsterberg.
San Francisco based artist Violent Vickie is scheduled to release her debut album, Monster Alley, on March 1. Check out the premiere single, "The Wolf", below.
Monster Alley ingeniously disguises Violent Vickie’s feminist political agendas in 11 dance-’til-you-die songs. In the introductory track “Drugs,” she croons “you ain’t got to worry when you got drugs” with a strung-out detachment to a uptempo, diamond-hard beat, while the ironically lascivious “Come and Run” concerns a bad sexual experience, and “The Scientist” takes a critical look at the pharmaceutical industry. Following in the footsteps of the iconic electropop band Le Tigre, Violent Vickie breathes a new punk rock ethos into electronic music.
Accompanied by Tyler Holmes on synth, her live shows are a multisensory experience, featuring electrifying psychedelic images.
Semi Precious Weapons have been out on the other coast writing, being glamorous and doing whatever people do when in Cali. Now, we get to hear a taste of what they've been working on. They have unveiled a new song, "Aviation High", which they're offering up for free. It's a little different than what we're used to hearing from them. It will be interesting to hear what the rest of the music they've been working on sounds like. Check it out and grab it below.
Israeli dream pop duo The Aprons recently released their debut single and video "Sound Stain". The pair, Hava (drums, vocals) and Talia (Bass, vocals) are, according to their bio, "urban nymphs that produce magical miniatures and haunting tunes." I don't know about the urban nymph part or the magical miniatures part but, they did produce a haunting tune which I really like. The "Sound Stain" video took a crew of 40 animators and a year realize. Check it out below and after you've done that, grab the single via the handy widget.
The title track showcases the mystery and windy melodies of their debut album "Sound Stains".
About the music video (From director Liran Goldberg): The concept came from the thought of taking the femininity and gentleness of the female pair and give it a visual interpretation to a world that everything feels organic yet fragile. From this concept I thought to film everything in the forest and wrap it with crystal made animals, where the hunters emphasize the conflict. The making of the video took a year to realize, with a crew of 40 animators that volunteered for the project.
Chicago based band Maps & Atlases have released the second video from their Beware & Be Grateful album. The clip, "Fever", was directed by Erin Elders and stars Barret Walz, Dennis Bisto and Megan Ligeti. Check out the clip below.
Maps & Atlases began a Euorpean tour last week and will begin the US leg in April. So far, no NY dates have been announced.
The clip, which further develops the story of an anonymous man introduced in their album trailer video, was directed by guitarist Erin Elders and produced by drummer Chris Hainey.
Since their formation in 2004, Maps & Atlases have captured the indie imagination with their extraordinarily artful amalgamation of polyrhythmic beats, elaborate melodies, and post-rock ingenuity.
Kacey Underwood and Alice Costelloe, better known as London based duo Big Deal are set to release their new album, June Gloom on June 4. To whet your appetite, check out the track “Terdactol” below.
Fleshing out their delicate, nocturnal tones Kacey and Alice take their sound to deeper, darker and more intoxicating height, courtesy of producer Rory Attwell (Veronica Falls, PAWS, Male Bonding) and a full band featuring bass and drums. As a result, the 11 other tracks here are an exploration of the newfound confidence of ‘teradactol’, with a refinement and bold directness. If Big Deal’s earlier tracks felt emotionally lacerating, this new body of work is noisy, boisterous, with a more than assured melodic hook. This evolution is made defiantly clear in the opener ‘golden light‘, which deliberately unhinges the listener by opening with sweetly strummed chords and interlocking vocals before building to a rousing climax. Similarly, ‘dream machines’ crests on a jagged undertow of pounding drums, and the sinister ‘pillow’ gradually opens up to become something vast, scorched and desolate. The pair infuse the volume with their own inimitable, off-kilter take on angst-ridden emotional terrain; on the aptly titled ‘pristine’, they sing,“darkness wash over me, I let it in, it let me be”, while on the otherwise upbeat ‘call and i’ll come’ Costelloe plaintively asks, “What if no one else compares/ what if no one else cares?”It all reaches a beautiful crescendo with the finale ‘close your eyes’, which explodes from an almost unbearably intimate confessional (“I won’t ask why/ if it was love/ we let it die”) into a coruscating maelstrom that is as indelibly affecting as it is thrilling.
Men Of North Country have been remixed! Their track "People of Tomorrow" has received the Markey Funk treatment. Check out "People of Tomorrow (The Visitor Remix by Markey Funk)" below. I'm not normally a fan of remixes but I like this one...a lot. The original track can be found on their album The North.
Markey's take on POT is a spaced-out psychedelic remix, inspired by The Tomorrow People, a 1970's cult British children's sci-fi TV-series.
And, for those that haven't seen it or want to see it again, here's the original.
Nashville based band Great Peacock, Andrew Nelson and Blount Floyd, are set to release their self-titled debut on March 5 via This Is American Music. The moment I heard "Take Me To The Mountain", I was captivated. Sometimes, a song crawls into your ear, embeds itself in your head and demands that you put it on repeat. This is one of those songs.
"Take Me To The Mountain" is without a doubt, my Song of the Day. Check it out for yourself.
Legendary rockers Whitesnake will be releasing a Live CD/DVD package, Made In Japan, on April 23 here in North America (April 19 in Europe and April 22 in the UK) via Frontiers Records. The performance footage was taken from the co-headlining set vocalist David Coverdale and his Whitesnake, Doug Aldrich (guitars), Reb Beach (guitars), Michael Devin (bass), Brian Tichy (drums) and special guest Brian Ruedy (keyboards) performed at the Loud Park festival in October 2011. The package will be available as a deluxe 2CD/DVD edition, Blu-ray and a stand alone DVD.
We all know I have a soft spot for The Coverdale so, I'm looking forward to this release.
The performance footage is shot in stunning HD in 5.1 and stereo and is taken from Whitesnake’s co-headlining set at the “Loud Park” festival on October 11th, 2011 held at Saitama Super Arena in Japan during their “Forevermore World Tour.” The performance was initially recorded only for Japanese TV and future Loud Park promotions.
MADE IN JAPAN contains songs from Whitesnake’s most recent studio album, FOREVERMORE, as well as classic hits such as “Is This Love,” “Still Of The Night” and “Here I Go Again.” The bonus CD also includes never-before-heard outtakes and acoustic versions of material from the award winning FOREVERMORE album that were recorded during soundchecks on the 2011 Japanese tour. Additional DVD content includes various band photo slideshows and fan-shot videos. Please see below for the full content listing.
Track List CD1:
Best Years
Give Me All Your Love Tonight
Love Ain’t No Stranger
Is This Love
Steal Your Heart Away
Forevermore
Six String Showdown
Love Will Set You Free
Drum Solo
Fool For Your Loving
Here I Go Again
Still Of The Night
Bonus CD 2 – Soundcheck:
Love Will Set You Free
Steal Your Heart Away
Fare Thee Well (Acoustic Version)
One Of These Days (Acoustic Version)
Lay Down Your Love
Evil Ways
Good To Be Bad (Acoustic Version)
Tell Me How (Acoustic Version)
Dvd / Blu-Ray:
Best Years
Give Me All Your Love Tonight
Love Ain’t No Stranger
Is This Love
Steal Your Heart Away
Forevermore
Six String Showdown
Love Will Set You Free
Drum Solo
Fool For Your Loving
Here I Go Again
Still Of The Night
Fan Videos For Forevermore and Steal Your Heart Away
Canadian band Enter The Haggis are set to release their latest album, The Modest Revolution on March 30. Towards the end of last year, the band launched an extremely successful Kickstarter project. Earlier this week backers received a digital pre-release copy of the record while the rest of the world were able to begin pre-ordering the record. If you haven't checkedthis band out, you should. I was introduced to their music about four years ago when I saw them put on a killer live show.
Leafing through a local paper in a small town this past winter, we were struck by the sheer number of interesting story-lines we found. After some discussion, we hit on an unusual idea: why not capture a snapshot of a single day musically? We bounced the idea around and eventually decided we were going to pick a day at random, buy a newspaper and write an entire album inspired by the stories and headlines we found within.
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